There’s still a lot of crazy rhetoric flying around about the potential of a protracted Russian invasion of Europe and a lot of threats of sanctions, but as a practical matter, the annexation of Crimea appears to be a done deal, and more or less settled.
President Obama seems resigned to Crimea having happened, and conceded today that Russia is “unlikely to surrender” Crimea on the basis of US demands. He also seemed to put off the idea of further sanctions, barring any Russian invasions of Ukraine.
Obama also felt the need to reiterate that the US isn’t going to attack the Crimean Peninsula over the matter, saying the US will only act “defensively” on behalf of other NATO members, and not just because Ukraine’s interim government doesn’t like Crimean secession.
With Russian officials repeatedly ruling out any other military advances, the signs are that Crimea’s secession and annexation was a one-off deal based on the surprise regime change in Ukraine, and not a prelude to World War 3.
